DigLibArts 2020: Digital well-being for the liberal arts

This is the second in a series of posts on DigLibArts 2020 Initiative (dla2020) in support of sustainable innovation in the liberal arts.

What is digital well-being, and how does it relate to the liberal arts?

Digital well-being can be defined as the ability to define and develop a nurturing personal and/or community cyberinfrastructure. This goal articulates one facet of Whittier’s mission to “prepare students from diverse backgrounds to excel in a complex global society” by empowering individuals and groups to become “active citizens and effective communicators who embrace diversity and act with integrity” in digital spaces.

Image from JISC: Building digital capability CC BY-NC-ND

In this diagram, the largest blue circle, which encompasses all the rest, embodies digital well-being. Each of the following overlapping areas contribute to it:

Pick almost any topic you care about. It is probably related, somehow, to one of these areas. DigLibArts offers support for you to pursue your own ideas, plans, and projects that contribute in any way to the broader goal of enhancing digital well-being for all campus members. Below are just a few ideas, color-coded to the digital capabilities diagram for explanatory purposes only.

Consensus andparticipation in the digital age

What’s digital got to do with our discipline or major?

BridgingWhittier’sQuaker heritage andour HSI/MSI present

Information fluency for sociologists, or musicians, or college graduates

Andrea Rehn is Associate Dean and Director of Whittier's Digital Liberal Arts and Whittier Scholars programs. She is also Professor of English, where her research focuses on the long nineteenth century. Her publications include articles on Austen, Conrad, Kipling, and digital pedagogy. She blogs intermittently at andrearehn.com, or find her regularly on Twitter and Medium as @profrehn.